Europe Economics Weekly Is the ECB going to taper? We think that the rise in government bond yields and slight appreciation of the euro after last week’sreports that the ECB is considering tapering its asset purchases were overdone. After all, in... 7th October 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is euro-zone growth picking up or slowing? The euro-zone’s two main activity surveys have given conflicting evidence about the state of the economy at the end of the third quarter, with the Composite PMI apparently pointing to slowing GDP... 30th September 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB unlikely to follow in Bank of Japan’s footsteps The Bank of Japan’s announcement that it will replace its target for the monetary base with a 0% target for 10-year government bond yields has prompted speculation about whether the ECB might follow... 23rd September 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Still little inflationary pressure from the labour market Even when the euro-zone economy seems to have performed fairly well, it has still been unable to generate any inflationary pressure. Indeed, despite the reasonably strong rate of employment growth in... 16th September 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Looser ECB policy will still pull the euro down The ECB’s decision last week not to announce an extension to its asset purchase programme led us to revise our year-end forecast for the euro exchange rate. But we still think that looser monetary... 9th September 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly What are equity prices telling us about GDP? Euro-zone equity prices have risen so far in Q3, painting a more optimistic picture of the economy’s performance than the consumer and business surveys. However, there are two reasons why we think... 2nd September 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Mixed messages from economic surveys The euro-zone Composite PMI has held up well since the UK’s Brexit vote, but it is too soon to sound the all clear. After all, the Composite PMI measures current output rather than indicating how... 26th August 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Should we be worried by Germany’s ZEW survey? Most information about Germany implies that the economy has continued to perform well after the UK’s Brexit vote. The main exception is the ZEW survey, which suggests that GDP growth could drop to... 19th August 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly GDP data highlight concerns about France and Italy Last week’s euro-zone Q2 GDP data revealed a strong contrast between the region’s strongest and weakest performers, with the French and Italian economies looking particularly vulnerable. In the second... 12th August 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB set to follow BoE despite policy limitations The Bank of England’s policy action last week added to the pressure on the ECB to do more. At the moment, the ECB’s self-imposed restrictions would prevent a large expansion of its asset purchase... 5th August 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Slower euro-zone GDP growth a sign of things to come We think that the slowdown in euro-zone GDP growth in Q2 is a sign of things to come. While the UK’s vote to leave the EU won’t be a major drag on the euro-zone, we expect growth to slow further as... 29th July 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Early Brexit signals provide some comfort Last week’s euro-zone and country level data releases started to lift some of the heavy fog on the initial impact of the UK’s vote to leave the EU on the currency union’s economy. The early signs are... 22nd July 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB’s calls for fiscal stimulus will not be heeded The ECB is set to loosen policy in the coming months. But there is a limit to how much more monetary policy alone can do for growth. In the wake of the UK’s Brexit vote, Mario Draghi’s calls for... 15th July 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is there a way to avert a full-blown banking crisis? There is no easy solution to the euro-zone’s banking problems, but the risks of doing nothing are too large for policymakers to simply sit on their hands. We think that policymakers will find a way to... 8th July 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Brexit to hit France harder than Germany On the face of it, Germany seems more exposed than France to the effects of the UK leaving the EU. But in the time before the UK actually leaves the single market, France is more vulnerable than... 1st July 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB needs to act decisively The UK’s surprise vote to leave the European Union has put more pressure on the European Central Bank to provide additional policy support. We now expect an acceleration in the pace of the ECB’s asset... 24th June 2016 · 1 min read
